The forward-thinking folks at Google have implemented a novel solution to prevent regretful drunken digital correspondence to friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones.
Gmail engineer Jon Perlow is introducing Mail Goggles, a new feature that will tease the bean before ill-conceived late night and weekend emails can be sent …

COMMENTS

This is useful

Too easy to pen off some bizarre rant, after suckling at the teat of hopee goodness.

And some people just don't share the same sense of humour, that a few pints or glasses of vino insist is universal.

Though, I would say that most net communications unless accompanied with a Card number should be taken with a pinch of salt, it is just a bunch of nerds seeing what is possible using long distance, immediately available written communication, I don't know why everyone else takes it so seriously.

Yes!

I like this idea. But to be honest, I don't think it'll be that useful for me.

Now if they could make an app for my phone to stop me sending those texts that I always regret, I'd buy it!

It surely wouldn't be hard to make the phone recognise when it takes me more than four attempts to spell each word, and just quietly ignore my requests to 'send' and instead consign the message to a holding area for my mortified review the next morning.

Isn't Austin Modine ...

... based in the US? Trying to write in (what looks like) English style without the upbringing can be fraught with danger. I agree there's a few terms there that don't look to be fully grasped by the author, or, he may indeed have been under the influence.

Then again, I can't complain - there's been a few comments of mine written under the influence of "hopee goodness" ...

Can they open source it please?

So I can pay a proper geek to write it as a text input parser on all applications to stop me emailing drunken hate mail, and posting utter toss here, and on other forums etc, when I have had one more beer than is strictly necessary? Likewise with text messages. And speaking - we could get Captain Cyborg involved.

Quite literally a case of 'engage brain before opening mouth'.

That would save me so much trouble on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings....

Actually, this is probably one of the *better* ideas to come out of Web 2.0 - at least it's potentially useful, eh?

Default settings

The default setting of it stopping working at 4am will need changing for most people in the UK, as this is about the time I normally come home on a Saturday/Sunday morning. I'd say it needs to work until at least lunchtime the following day.

Great idea though. Would certainly stop a few people getting into trouble.

@@Michael Xion

Far reaching effects...

I hope this fails, quickly, and hard. Imagine what this could do, if it were to catch on. Not only would we lose most of the comments, we'd lose almost all Friday articles on The Reg, and probably half of the rest!

@Andus

Well, yes.

I'm sure you're not an idiot, but I am still duty bound to point out that a) there are many kinds of idiot, including an awful lot of ostensibly clever ones, and b) please restore my H in future or I shall be obliged to address you as 'Angus'.

@Andus

So the Spanish for Dumb is "bobo" - are you sure the first o isn't an e?

Just wondering, as in my attempt at IT teaching a couple of years ago, the pupils spent a great deal of time and energy trying to find anonymous proxy servers so they could use a certain website that was blocked in school, but they found more interesting than spreadsheets and databases themed around "Five a Day"...